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UND planning to begin building demolitions Monday

The building known as 314 Cambridge on the University of North Dakota campus. File photo / Forum News Service

GRANDN FORKS, N.D. — The University of North Dakota will begin a series of building demolitions Monday, starting with the Strinden Center.

Mike Pieper, head of university facilities, said contractors will begin with the center before "working their way east" through the eight buildings scheduled to come down between this summer and the next..

"All the heavy truck traffic and stuff will be done before kids come back," Pieper said.

The buildings scheduled for demolition are 314 Cambridge; Strinden Center; 2912 University Avenue; 317 Cambridge; Era Bell Thompson Center; International Center; Women's Center; and Chandler Hall. Chandler, which was built in pieces and contains the oldest structure on the UND campus, is the last building scheduled for demolition and is expected to be taken down next summer. The others will be demolished before the start of this coming fall semester.

UND project manager Brian Larson expects to have the seven buildings down by Aug. 11. The Strinden should be demolished by the end of Monday, with work continuing for at least another day after that. If all goes as planned, the site of the former center and the six other buildings will be restored and grassy before students head back to class.

All eight of the buildings to be demolished have been pulled offline the past few years. In addition to these buildings being razed, several others are currently being phased out of use. Those include Gustafson Hall, Montgomery Hall, Dakota Hall, Robertson/Sayre Hall and Corwin/Larimore Hall.

It's not yet clear what will happen to the other buildings as they go offline, but all of the buildings leaving the active pool of UND facilities have been selected because of an ongoing effort to cut back the university's footprint while knocking down deferred maintenance costs.

Andrew Haffner covers higher education and general assignment stories for the Grand Forks Herald. He attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he studied journalism, political science and international studies. He previously worked at the Dickinson Press.